Ninjabeats vs. erniesbudolab - Vegemite Challenge

Oh My God! Nina totally surprised me on her blogTV channel. I showed her my bottle of Vegemite, and then she challenged me to an eating contest. I think we both "lost" and "won." She won the volume category, and I won the least number of gags. We both lost because we had to eat something afterwards just to kill the aftertaste.


No Title- Broadcast your self LIVE

Nina's a kick-in-the-head fun friend. I'm so glad I've got a buddy to joke around with on the internet!

Doorstep Guitar

I was pretty tired from shooting and editing "Skank Session 1." So, I just wanted to cool off and relax. I sat by my front door to meditate to the sounds of the wind and traffic flowing by. After awhile, I had the urge to play guitar. I still had my production gear out...So, I recorded this piece which I composed about five years ago. None of my compositions really have names. "Doorstep Guitar" is just a title I've used to name this post.

Go Pei Sho

Grand Master Robert Trias founded his own style of karate called Shuri Ryu in the late 1950's and early 1960's. He's on record as opening the first Japanese-style dojo in the United States in Arizona.

GM Trias also founded the USKA (United States Karate Association). Around 1971, my former Master (now deceased), was for a short time a member of the USKA. In order to help unify the organization some Shuri Ryu kata were modified to allow for other styles to learn them and compete in open tournament fairly.

Go Pei Sho was created by GM Trias, based on his learnings from the Hopei school of Hsing-I. This kata was one that underwent modification. Some time during the mid-1970's, all Shuri Ryu kata in the USKA were restored to their original forms.

To my knowledge, the modified forms have long been out of practice and probably only exist as file footage on 8mm/16mm films, quadruplex video tape, and hand written notes.

The version of Go Pei Sho that I first learned as a 13 year old from my teachers has remained in tact. I haven't changed anything that was taught to me. If there are others out there that know this or similar version, I'd really like to hear from you.

All My Life - America [Karaoke]

My YouTube friend Riza (aka: bykrgrl17) after FAVing my cover of M2M's "Pretty Boy" (my version was "Pretty Girl"), she requested that I do America's "All My Life."

I found out that "All My Life" became a #1 hit in the Philippines...in 1979. So, when you hear it and think: Boy, that sure sounds out of date! Like Bread's song "If," you'll know why.

Anyway, without any further adieu:



All I need now are some wide collars and flared jeans and I'm set!

Gigil(ing) Grandmas

GIGIL: A most perplexing Tagalog word. Watch this video and find out what it means.

Talking with Miss Lulu (YouTube - BruneiDoLL)

Lulu is a breath of fresh air. She's got a keen sense of observation and international humor which can be seen in her many YouTube posts. She speaks four(?) languages fluently! Through our mutual friend, Nina, I learned about Lulu and found out she's a fellow karateka (Oss!). When not spending time in the dojo at home in Brunei, she's attending university in Australia. The following is an observation she made...

Story of Teenage Rebel:



Since all my closests friends, here in California, have moved out of state to find new lives and new careers in this tough economy, and even though I keep in touch with them by phone, for weekly and daily contact with people I've come to rely on the friendships I've built on YouTube and Blogger to keep me sane. Lulu and Nina are the kid sisters I never had, so it's cool joking around with them. And Aviva from Bowmansinoki (Blogger), has been a real lifesaver and another sister to me. Back on subject: Lulu asked at the end of her video if her viewers were going through a "rebellious phase" with their parents...

My Video Response:



By the way, Lulu is an absolute choco-holic! Mention chocolate, and she perks up. She also takes pretty good pictures as a hobby. See her self portraits and those of her friends and associates (and love of chocolate) here at passion4cocoa!

When You Say Nothing at All

I am in love with this song (at least the Alison Krauss and Union Station version). For many years, I've been playing this song all for myself from time to time. In the mornings on weekends; late at night when no one else is home; or when I'm so sick of being lonely that the only way to get rid of the "blues" was to just explore it until I arose feeling rejuvenated.

There was a woman in my life that I always pictured when singing this song in the past. I don't think of her much these days. She has the life she wanted and deserves. But, there'll always be that place and time we had when some of the best moments during conversations were the pondering silences in between words.

Now, I feel it's time for me to share a song that's kept me company and given me comfort. Strange when you lose a friend. Another one can appear like magic!

Two Videos in One Day = No Sleep

I'm cranking out as many vids as I can before the Holidays really puts a cramp in my side. And, I've got another gasshuku to go to in mid-October.

So, here's two videos I made yesterday:

VIDEO #1: "My New iPod"



The cassette player in my pick up truck finally croaked. Lately, I've been getting tired of "rewind" "fast forward" and "search" just to groove to my road tunes. I won't toss all my mix tapes. Those are going into my archives. All these non-linear functions on all of digital gear has created an impatient society. Now I'm one of them. Good bye analog cassettes...hello iTunes!

VIDEO #2: "Kevin's Birthday Salute"



Kevin is my bestest buddy. In ways, he is more a brother to me than my real life brothers. We've known each other since the age of 14. I've helped him, in small and subtle ways, to grow in the entertainment industry. And for the last 12 years, I've spent almost every Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years Eve with him and his family.

Kevin and his wife Melinda now live in Cape Cod. They've found the kind of setting where they feel safe to raise their children as well as launch new careers.

Ernie's Interview with Professor Stephen Hawking

No! Of course it's not a real interview. I wanted to challenge (with the hopes of improving) my editing skills.

This project required about six hours of sitting in front of my computer just to research, locate, and download stills and flash video. Then, I had to convert the flash into mpeg and avi files in order to edit them in Premiere.

At times, I had to separate the audio from the video. Such was the case when I created the Hawking dialog. Speach synthesis was generated using the speak function in the software Movie Magic Screenwriter.



In all there are about seven layers of complexity in this project and another six hours of meshing all the elements together. After watching the final cut, I know there's lots of room for improvement. Primarily, I need to step up from Premiere to Final Cut Pro which means I need a new and more powerful computer to run FCP. Great... Certainly, I haven't truly maximized the potential of the platform I currently have. A few more projects with what I've got will convince me one way or the other. Still, it's tough being a one man show!

But for now, I'm pleased with my progress. For my next project, I'd like to try audio punch-ins, over-dubbing, and green screen video. Just to keep things interesting.

Hamabe Gasshuku and a Walk in the Woods

Every year, for the past eleven years, I've helped raise college scholarship funding for "at-risk" youth. A bunch of us karateka here in Northern California meet at a beach and donate money and buy T-shirts. The non-profit organization also raises funds from other sources. Over the years, we have supported several people up to Bachelor Degrees and technical degrees.